514 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



the same time of public taxation and public indebt- 

 edness, and desire to awaken the honest instincts of 

 our citizens to limit and restrain the growing evils. 



That it is the right and duty of the Commonwealth 

 to protect its industrial interests from the oppression 

 of any system which deprives the laborer ot the le- 

 gitimate fruits of his toil, or of the means of the 

 proper development of his physical and mental pow- 

 ers. 



. That the elective franchise is a right the exercise 

 of which should not be abridged by the payment of 

 any money price as a condition. 



That we pledge our united support to the candi- 

 dates this day nominated, and we invite all citizens 

 who deplore the present evils to join with us in their 

 support. 



That, in presenting to the people of this Common- 

 wealth Charles Francis Adams as candidate for 

 Governor, we make the principles of our platform a 

 reality in practice. The public services and private 

 virtues of this illustrious citizen need no recital here, 

 and we believe his election will but subserve the in- 

 terests of the Democratic party in Massachusetts. 



Mr. Adams accepted the nomination for 

 Governor in the following letter : 



The Hon. W. W. Warren, Pi-esident Convention of 

 Delegates, etc. 



PHILADELPHIA, September 12, 1876. 



DEAR SIR : Your letter informing me of my nomi- 

 nation by a convention of voters of Massachusetts 

 opposed to the present administration of national 

 and State affairs, held at Worcester on the 6th inst., 

 has been forwarded to me at this place. 



Fully appreciating the honor conferred upon me by 

 the manner as well as the substance of the call so 

 unanimously made upon me, I cannot in principle do 

 otherwise than obey. I never in my life have solicit- 

 ed an office; but when summoned to it I have never 

 dared to refuse. The time for service on my part is 

 fast passing away, but my interest in the prosperity 

 and the honor of the country will cease only witn 

 my life. Convinced as I am that the policy of the 

 ruling party will not tend to the eradication of the 

 great evil that prevails, the tendency to corruption 

 in official station ; neither will it promote the restora- 

 tion of internal peace and harmony, a vital object in 

 my opinion to the complete restoration of the coun- 

 try : I can only say that whatever service I may be 

 able to render to the attainment of these ends, how- 

 ever feeble it may be, is entirely at your command. 

 With great respect, 



CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. 



Mr. Lothrop declined the nomination for 

 Secretary of State, and the name of Weston 

 Howland was substituted on the ticket by the 

 State Central Committee. 



A Woman-Suffrage Convention was held in 

 Boston, on the 12th of September, and ac- 

 cepted the ticket of the Prohibitionists; The 

 following address to the people was issued : 



The woman-suffragists of Massachusetts, in dele- 

 gate convention assembled, respectfully submit to 

 the people of the Commonwealth the reasons which 

 compel them for the first time to make independent 

 nominations for State officers. 



For many years they have appealed to both the 

 great political parties of the State to rectify the in- 

 justice which taxes and governs women without their 

 consent, and which subjects them to cruel legal dis- 

 abilities as wives, mothers, and widows. But their 

 appeals have been disregarded. The Republican 

 party of Massachusetts, after repeatedly indorsing 

 woman-suffrage in its platform and repudiating it in 

 the Legislature, has just refused to invite Republican 

 women to take part in the nomination of their candi- 

 dates, and has framed a platform which they declare 



has a double meaning on the suffrage issues. The 

 Democratic party of the State has refused to take 

 any action on the subject. The Prohibitory party 

 of the State, on the contrary, has invited women to 

 take part in its primary meetings, with an equal 

 voice and vote in the nomination of candidates and 

 the transaction of business. It has made the estab- 

 lishment of woman-suffrage one of its avowed objects, 

 and has nominated candidates all of whom are suf- 

 fragists. 



State governments have jurisdiction over matters 

 with which the national Government has no concern. 

 We maintain that State officers should be elected 

 upon State issues, independent of national politics. 

 And, whereas woman-suffrage is purely a question of 

 State policy, it is the duty of the woman-suffragists 

 of Massachusetts so to cast their ballots next No- 

 vember as to represent their principles in the choice 

 of Statf officers. 



Believing that "governments are just only when 

 they rest on the consent of the governed," and that 

 the establishment of a truly representative govern- 

 ment is vastly more important than the success of 

 Rice or Adams, we commend the nominees of this 

 Woman-Suffrage State Convention to the suffrages of 

 the people, irrespective of party, as the candidates 

 who represent impartial suffrage and equal rights to 

 all. 



Kesolutions were also adopted as follows ; 



Whereas, Neither the Republican nor Democratic 

 party cares for the cause of woman-suffrage ; whereas, 

 the Republican party, through the chairman of its 

 convention Committee on Resolutions, the Hon. John 

 D. Long, has made the declaration that its resolu- 

 tions for woman-suffrage meant nothing ; and, where- 

 as, the Prohibitory party, national and State, has 

 adopted woman-suffrage as one of its cardinal princi- 

 ples: 



Resolved, That we send hearty greeting to the Pro- 

 hibitionists. 



Resolved. That we hereby urge our friends to vote 

 for that long-tried friend of woman-suffrage, the 

 Hon. John I. Baker, for Governor of Massachusetts, 

 and for the other nominees of this convention. 



Resolved, That we pledge ourselves as suffragists 

 to vote for no person for Senator or Representative to 

 the General Court who is not fully committed to the 

 suffrage-movement, and that the State Central Com- 

 mittee be instructed to take measures to enable suf- 

 fragists to carry out the resolution at the polls. 



The ticket of the Prohibitionists was also 

 taken up by the Labor-Keforrners and the 

 " Greenback party." The latter nominated 

 candidates for presidential electors at a thinly- 

 attended convention in Boston, October llth. 



The election took place on the 7th of No- 

 vember. The total vote for presidential elec- 

 tors was 259,619, of which 150,063 were for 

 the Hayes and Wheeler ticket, 108,777 for 

 Tilden and Hendricks, and 779 scattering : Re- 

 publican majority, 41,286. The vote for Gov- 

 ernor was 256,904, of which Mr. Eice received 

 137,665, Mr. Adams 106,850, Mr. Baker 12,- 

 274, and 115 were scattering. The plurality 

 of Rice over Adams was 30,815 ; majority over 

 all others, 18,426. The largest Republican 

 vote was 142,210 for Treasurer, and Endicott's 

 majority over Skillings was 27,751. Of the 

 Executive Council chosen, seven were Republi- 

 cans and one Democrat. Thirteen Representa- 

 tives to Congress were chosen, all being Re- 

 publicans except Leopold Morse in the Fourth 

 District. In the Seventh District there were 

 three candidates: Benjamin F. Butler, who 



